Comcast’s NBC Hit with Racism Complaint from Actress
Daily Beast: Actress Gabrielle Union has referenced the cases of Jimmy Fallon, Al Roker, Ted Danson, and her former "America's Got Talent" fellow judge Julianne Hough in a harassment complaint filed against NBC and Simon...
Fox Corp Apologizes for News Graphic of Black Killings
USA Today: Fox News apologized after showing an infographic on-air that depicts the stock market's reaction to high-profile killings of black men including the recent death of George Floyd. "We apologize for the insensitivity," said a Fox News...
BBC Names New Director General, Aims to Stir Change
BBC: Tim Davie, one of the most senior executives at the BBC, has been named the broadcaster's new director general. Davie has been promoted from CEO of BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary that makes programs and sells them...
Google Taps Obamas for Virtual Graduation on YouTube
Associated Press: President Obama with his wife, Michelle, delivered speeches during YouTube’s “Dear Class of 2020” virtual ceremony. The duo, along with a star-studded lineup including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Tom Brady, offered inspirational...
Amazon CEO Expresses Support for Black Lives Matter
Bloomberg: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos used an Instagram post to share an emailed response to a customer and express his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. "Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people...
Reddit Co-Founder Exits Board, Urges Black Successor
Reuters: Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has resigned from the social network firm’s board and sought to be replaced by a black candidate. CEO Steve Huffman said the company would “honor” his request and is working to strengthen its content...
Facebook CEO-Funded Researchers Plea to Rein in Hate
Associated Press: Dozens of scientists doing research funded by Mark Zuckerberg say Facebook should not be letting President Trump use the social media platform to "spread both misinformation and incendiary...
News Corp Opinion Column Calls for Trump Resignation
Wall Street Journal: President Trump is "no longer the force he was and no longer lucky,” wrote Peggy Noonan, opinion columnist at the Wall Street Journal. Trump "should give an Oval Office address announcing he's leaving: 'America, you don’t deserve...
Tribune Reports $44 Million Loss Thanks to Coronavirus
Chicago Tribune: Tribune Publishing reported a $44 million first-quarter loss, due primarily to an accounting adjustment related to Covid-19. "The Covid-19 pandemic and the recent civil unrest are unprecedented in my lifetime," said CEO Terry...
New York Times Opinion Editor Quits After Staff Uproar
New York Times: James Bennet has resigned from his job as the editorial page editor of the New York Times, days after the newspaper’s opinion section published a much-criticized op-ed by a US senator calling for a military response to civic...
Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Resigns After Headline Flap
Philadelphia Inquirer: Stan Wischnowski, the top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has resigned, days after discontent among the newspaper’s staff erupted over a headline on a column about the impact of the civil unrest following the police killing of George...
Vice Media, Meredith Among Media Accused of Racism
Business of Fashion: Employees of websites and magazines have turned to social media to criticize publishers for sending messages in support of the anti-racism movement, all the while allowing racism and discrimination within their own...
BuzzFeed Joins List of Media Facing Racism Allegations
CNN: Former BuzzFeed staffers have shared their experiences with what they said was discrimination at the digital media company. A BuzzFeed spokesperson said: "It's fair to say that we have made mistakes, and the best thing we can do now is listen, learn, and do...
Conde Nast CEO Warns Joining Unions Won’t Save Jobs
@maxwelltani: Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch said the company will "begin the voluntary recognition process" for the Wired union. But in the same breath he argued that unions will not save jobs. "What will save jobs is an entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to be...
Maven Media Cuts Pay Amid Spat Over Pro-Police Blog
Daily Beast: Employees at Maven Media Brands, the digital-media publisher that owns outlets like Sports Illustrated, are calling upon the company to cut ties with Defense Maven, a Blue Lives Matter website in its...
Vox Media’s Furloughs Evolve Into Complete Departures
Awful Announcing: More of Vox Media's three-month furloughs have turned into complete departures. Two SB Nation staffers, who were both among the initial furloughs set to run through July 31, announced Friday that they're now leaving...
The Athletic Lays Off 46 Employees, Rolls Out Pay Cuts
Axios: The Athletic is laying off nearly 8% of staff, or 46 people, to help survive the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Like many sports media outlets, The Athletic has been particularly impacted by the loss of live...
Apple CEO: We Must Aim Higher Than a ‘Normal’ Future
MacRumors: Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday shared an open letter addressing the death of George Floyd while in police custody last month, referring to the "senseless killing" as "shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a 'normal'...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Preps Projects to Combat Injustice
Hollywood Reporter: WarnerMedia on Thursday outlined actions the company plans to take to help fight social injustice. For starters, the company will donate commercial inventory to Color Of Change and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "This is only the...
Disney Scores Restart of NBA at ESPN Florida Complex
MarketWatch: The NBA has approved a 22-team format for restarting the league season in late July at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida, another major step toward getting teams back onto the court and playing games again.The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex...
Comcast NBC Ousted News Anchor Plots ‘Big Interview’
Us Magazine: Matt Lauer is said to be planning to jump back into the spotlight with "a big TV interview." The news anchor's friends are "trying to convince him to record the interview himself so he has edit control." Lauer was fired from NBC in 2017 after charges of...
Google Faces Threat as Time on TikTok Nears YouTube
TechCrunch: Youngsters ages 4 to 15 now spend an average of 85 minutes per day watching YouTube videos, compared with 80 minutes per day spent on TikTok. The latter app also drove growth in kids’ social app use by 100% in 2019 and 200% in...
Netflix Metrics Bashed as Covid Cripples Movie Theaters
CNBC: Viewership metrics vary from streaming service to streaming service, making comparisons difficult. "The streaming metrics provided by Netflix are pretty useless. Who cares how many people watched a particular movie? It doesn’t translate to...
Facebook Starts Labeling Content from State-Run Media
NBC News: Facebook has started labeling some content as coming from foreign state-controlled media outlets, the company announced. Pages of overtly state-run news agencies such as Russia’s RT and Sputnik, and China’s Xinhua News and the People’s Daily, will be labeled...
Twitter Sees Record-Breaking Week as Users Seek News
TechCrunch: Civil unrest due to the nationwide George Floyd protests drove Twitter to see a record number of new installs this week, according to data from two app store intelligence firms, Apptopia and Sensor Tower. The firms agreed that Twitter's app had its...
Apple Requires Returning Office Workers to Wear Masks
Bloomberg: Apple employees heading back to work at the company's headquarters in Silicon Valley will face new realities in the Covid-19 era, such as optional testing for the virus, closed kitchens and a requirement to wear masks. Apple began bringing some workers in...
Amazon CEO’s Donations Slammed by Washington Post
Mediaite: All the money in the world apparently can’t buy you favorable press in your own paper. On Thursday, the Washington Post took a shot at its owner, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, by calling attention to his charitable giving — or relative lack...
New York Times Admits It ‘Rushed’ with Disputed Op-Ed
Associated Press: In an embarrassing about-face, The New York Times said Thursday that an opinion piece it ran by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton advocating the use of federal troops to quell nationwide protests about police mistreatment of black Americans did not meet its...
Philadelphia Inquirer Journalists Walk Out After Headline
WHYY: Journalists of color at the Philadelphia Inquirer refused to work Thursday, calling in “sick and tired” in an open letter to newspaper leadership decrying racial inequity in the industry and demanding changes to “careless, unsympathetic” newsroom...
Hearst Cartoonists Join Tribute to Coronavirus Workers
Associated Press: The funny papers this Sunday will have more than laughs. More than 70 comic strips and panels — from Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" to Jeff Keane's "Family Circus"— will have symbols hidden in the artwork to honor workers on the frontlines of the...